Repairing a boat in Exotic locals

22 November 2014 | Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico

Gabriellas Gpa

I guess you can say that I'm settled into the routine here in Mananaland. I'll go through a list of projects I'm trying to tackle. I first pulled my rudder out of the boat by digging a hole in the dirt ground so my rudder can drop out. Then I pulled the propeller shaft and took the rudder and propeller shaft to a machine shop to have the rudder straightened and a new prop shaft built. I also had the machine shop make extra mounting plates for my new solar panels. My head (toilet) was frozen (motor) so I pulled that out to replace it with a new one that I had on the boat for a couple of years. Of course I had to replace the wood base that it sits on because of all the shower water damage. I had to clean and epoxy and paint the entire area around the head to do a correct job. I hired a boat chico to sand the bottom of the boat so I can paint it with my water base eco friendly bottom paint. That's a real nasty job with all the toxins in the old paint, so spending $32 for the labor is well worth it. I picked up my new shaft, rudder and solar panel mounts from the machine shop and was gouged in price.....it's called Gringo pricing! I was a little pissed, but I will get over it. Now I have to install everything and fix all my paint dings on my new topside paint job from last year. My XM radio quit working on me (base plate electrical connections are toast) so I was lucky enough to find another one hidden on the boat. I was going to drive to Tucson to buy another because I absolutely cannot live without my XM in Mexico. My friends Joe and Carole Thompson showed up in San Carlos today, so I will be off tomorrow to see them. They just drove up from Belize, where they bought property, and still have a class A parked in San Carlos. We'll be having Thanksgiving together at Blackies in San Carlos (Gringolandia). Hopefully in a week to 10 days I will splash and hopefully NO leaks.

After spending the most wonderful 5 years of my life with my grandaughter Gabriella, it's my turn to go cruising. I'll keep going as long as it's fun and if I can get rid of this nagging feeling of returning to my grandaughter..